The Sun's Monkey
by titangirl161
Summary: After their journey, Goku is seriously wounded and he's about to learn justwhat he means to a certain priest. Slight OOC.


Hello friends and haters, and welcome to a new Saiyuki story! First off, I would like to apologize. This ficclet was SUPPOSED to come out about a month ago. However, I mentioned in Lost Lives (an earlier Saiyuki story) that my s key wouldn't work, and to make things worse, it spread so that the keys 2, w, s, and x all wouldn't work at all. Typing became such a frustrating thing, with all the copy/pasting just to send an email, that I just didn't bother even STARTING this story. But very recently I got my keyboard replaced (if this wasn't a laptop it could've gotten done faster, but se le vi) and one of the first things I wanted to do was to do this story, so here it is! YAY! And I'll waste no further time, so let's get right to it! My puppy-muse Scribble will do the disclaimer and we'll begin!

Scribble: We don't own Saiyuki or even the copy of Saiyuki Reload volume 9 which was borrowed from friend and fellow authoress What2callmyself?, who also gets major props for her beta!

Me: Also! WARNING: Some OOC-ness. Just so we all know. NOTE: This first memory comes from the story I mentioned earlier, Lost Lives. It's a semi important part of the story.

The Sun's Monkey

~Flashback~

"I've always wondered something," Goku said softly to the monk who raised him. "You told me you were going to find somewhere for me to go, but when you came back, you told me I could stay with you. What made you change your mind?"

Sanzo remembered that time. "I went to the Three Aspects to see where there would be a home for you, but when I told them, they said that you weren't even a demon, but some kind of monster. I told them that couldn't be, that you were only a tiny, stupid bottomless pit of a child. And at that moment, I also realized I was the only one who would be able to care for you."

"You saw me for what I really was," Goku said softly. "So what do you think I am now?"

"A stupid bottomless pit of a brat," Sanzo answered without missing a beat.

"But you don't think I'm a monster?" Goku asked looking up at him.

Sanzo looked down in his ward's golden eyes. "No. Never."

Goku leaned his head back against Sanzo's chest, smiling, and a few tears fell from his eyes. "When I was back in the cave, when I first saw you…the sun was shining right behind you, and as I looked out, I thought that you were glowing. That the light was coming from you. You looked just like the sun, and I thought you were the sun. You were. You are. You're still my sun."

~End Flashback~

"Huh?" Goku murmured groggily. "I remember that…that time long ago, but why?"

_Goku, my child…come to me…come back…._

"And who's this calling me? I don't remember this voice…"

_Goku…come home, my child…._

"What, you don't recognize the voice of your own mother?" a different voice teased gently.

Goku jerked up and saw a boy with brown hair and almost yellow eyes looking at him with a gentle smile.

"Huh? Who are you?" Goku asked the boy sitting in front of him.

"Well, you could say I'm an angel of death. But seeing as your mother, the earth, is calling to you, I'm really not needed here. However, I am here for a reason, and if you couldn't tell, it involves you."

"What do you mean it involves me? And why would an angel of death be here?! I can't die yet!"

The angel looked vaguely surprised. "Oh, I see. You don't remember why you're here. Well then, let's pull up this memory…the last one you have at the moment…."

~Flashback~

Gyumoah's revival was stopped, Gyokumen was defeated, but their problems were far from over. Sanzo and Goku had gone forward while Gojyo and Hakkai had stayed back to fight some lower lever demons and were now running out of a collapsing hallway.

"Can't you run any faster monkey?!" Sanzo screamed, panicked.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Goku, equally panicked, retorted.

The conversation wasn't over, but for some reason it stopped, and Goku knew something was wrong. He turned to see Sanzo…who wasn't running anymore. A large rock had hit him in the head, and he had fallen to the ground, unconscious. Goku ran back to him, trying to pick him up and run, but it was just too hard. He knew he had only one option left, and that was to protect Sanzo…regardless of what happened to him.

He threw his body over his caretaker's, shielding him. Rock slammed him into, into his legs, his arms, his back, his head, and while he was crying out he didn't move. He had to protect Sanzo, and like this, Sanzo was safe. That was the last thing he remembered.

~End Flashback~

"Oh…that's right. I was protecting Sanzo. Is…is he ok?"

"Gojyo and Hakkai found you both later. Sanzo awoke the next day. Here, let me show you."

A scene appeared before Goku. Sanzo was lying down on a bed, and he groaned softly. Hakkai, who was in the room, keeping sentry, turned and walked over to the bed. "Sanzo?" he asked softly.

Sanzo squeezed his closed eyes shut before opening them. "Glad to see you're up," Hakkai said.

Sanzo turned to him, silent a moment. Then, softly, "What happened?"

"You were out for the whole day, after we dug you out of the collapsed tunnel."

"Where is everyone?"

"Gojyo is resting right now. He's with Goku."

"How is Goku?"

Hakkai said nothing. Sanzo's eyes widened. "What happened to Goku?"

Hakkai hung his head. "He…he probably saved you. He shielded you from the rocks."

"What happened to Goku?" Sanzo growled a little more fiercely.

"He's in a coma. But it's doubtful he'll wake up. It's also more likely he'll die."

The scene disappeared. "Wow," Goku muttered, shocked. "How long ago was that?"

"Three weeks ago. And here you are now."

They were now in Goku's room, where his body lay prone, pale and ghostly looking. "And if you stay that way too much longer, you WILL die, Goku," the boy said.

Goku looked at himself. "But…there's not much I can do, is there?"

"I'm afraid not."

Goku sighed. "I didn't want it to end this way. I thought…I'd live to see it all the way through. But…this is better I guess."

The angel looked alarmed as he whirled to face Goku. "What do you mean, this is better?"

"Well, I've always stayed with Sanzo, but…I just get the feeling he doesn't want me around that much. I mean, I'm not a little kid anymore. And, truthfully, I've never been in a situation where I've NEEDED his protection. I really didn't know where I was gonna go after this, but now I only have one option. That makes it easier, I guess."

The shocked look remained. "How could you think that? Don't you understand what you mean to him? What you are to him?"

"What are you talking about?"

The boy sighed. "Let's quickly remember something else," he said.

~Flashback~

It was another rainy day, which meant Sanzo was in a bad mood again…well, he was always in a bad mood, but a worse bad mood these kinds of days. Goku was sitting in the kitchen of the motel they were staying in, munching a meat bun thoughtfully, when an idea sprung to his head. Sanzo always smoked about twice as much during these times, which meant he would have to buy more cigarettes later, and while Goku didn't like this habit, he thought it might make him happy if he didn't have to go get them…Goku would surprise him by already having bought them for him. He thought it was a great plan, and despite the rain, ran out to buy some.

And while it was a good idea, he didn't know that while he was buying them and heading back to the motel, another group of demons came, his teammates beat them up, then noticed he was nowhere to be seen, and the first thought they all came to was he was taken by the retreating demons, and Sanzo was just about to run out into the rain to find Goku just as Goku was walking into the door with the smokes.

Goku was surprised that Sanzo almost ran right into him, but even more surprising, and strangely confusing, was what happened to Sanzo's face in the matter of a few seconds. Worry, and what may've been fear were quickly replaced by confusion, then a brief flicker of relief and anger all fluttered across his face faster than Goku could eat ramen (which was pretty damn fast). "What do you think you're doing?" he screamed at Goku, not quite sure why he was even screaming.

Goku was more confused now. "I…I just went to the store, and I just got back. I was…" he had no chance to continue before a fan came flying out.

"BAKASARU!" Sanzo screamed, smacking him on the head hard.

"OW! What the hell?! I was just buying you cigarettes, and then you smack me?! You're a creep!" Goku yelled, pulling the cigarettes out of the bag, and without thinking about what he was doing, threw them at Sanzo, hitting him in the face.

Goku immediately wished he hadn't done that. Sanzo's face was bent downwards so Goku couldn't see his eyes, and he was shaking. That meant Sanzo was pissed…beyond pissed. He took a step towards him, and Goku hoped he could say something that would save his life fast enough.

"Sanzo! I'm really sorry, I-" he was cut off again, but this time, it wasn't because Sanzo hit him. The most surprising thing was that it wasn't anything violent, but instead Sanzo threw his arms around Goku, and fell down to his knees, pulling Goku down with him.

Goku could only kneel in his embrace in shock. Sanzo's face was buried in his hair, and he couldn't see it, but he felt Sanzo's arms still shaking as they held him, gently, to calm him. Goku reached up and held onto his arms, and relaxed as he was held against the monk.

The cigarettes had fallen into a puddle, and were thoroughly useless now, but neither the priest nor his ward noticed or cared.

~End Flashback~

"I remember that now. Man that was a weird day."

"But don't you understand why he reacted the way he did? He was so worried about you, and so relieved you were alright, but he didn't know how to say or show it," the angel told Goku.

Goku was silent. The boy continued. "Maybe you don't need him, but don't you know he wants you around? The truth is, he's the one who has always needed you."

Goku shook his head. "Now I know you're lying."

"Why would I be lying?"

"Because…because Sanzo is my sun. He's what I need in my world, or else there would be no light in it. I need the sun to live. But if I were gone…if I were gone, I doubt the sun would even notice, or if it did, it wouldn't care either way. The sun is important to me, but I'm not important to the sun."

The boy shook his head, but just then the door to the room opened up.

Goku turned to see Sanzo standing in the doorway, and watched, fascinated, as the priest made his way over to the bed and looked down at Goku's form, his face unreadable. He sat down on the edge of the bed and began to softly run his hands through Goku's hair. Then without warning he slammed his hand down on the mattress.

"Damn it Goku! What were you thinking? Why didn't you just keep running?" And as he yelled, his voice started to quiet and break, and tears started to fill his violet eyes. "Why did you stop? Why did you bother to save me? I don't deserve it, now or ever, least of all from you." The tears spilled down his face and he leaned forward so that his forehead was almost touching his ward's. His voice dropped to a whisper as he continued, but Goku still heard it. "Don't leave me. If you go, I'll never forgive myself. Please…don't go."

The angel looked over to see Goku now had tears on his face as well. "Do you understand now?" he asked the monkey king.

Goku didn't need to answer. All along he thought that the sun would be fine. Sanzo wouldn't miss him if he was gone. But he had been wrong all this time. Sanzo did need him. Sanzo would miss him if he left. His sun needed him as much as he needed it. And Sanzo had always known this; Goku was the only one who had missed it, unable to understand his guardian's way of asking him to stay. "I don't want to die," he whispered, as he heard his mother faintly, still calling to him.

"What?"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO LIVE!" Goku yelled now still crying, and looked up in surprised to see the boy kneeling in front of him, smiling.

"That's all I needed to hear. I was waiting for you to say that so I could do this." His eyes glowed a bright blue and he reached out and touched Goku's forehead. "My name is Vin, and while I am an angel of death, I am also an angel of life." And with that he disappeared.

Sanzo was still crying slightly when he heard a soft sound. "Goku?" he asked in disbelief.

Goku stirred a little and slowly opened his eyes. "Sanzo? Where am I?"

Sanzo, lost in relief, let his head hang forward and smiled, telling him, "You're back Goku, and you're safe, with us. That's all that matters."

"Sanzo?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry…really, really hungry."

Sanzo nodded, still smiling. "Stupid monkey, we'll go find something for you to eat."

Goku smiled. "Thank you Sanzo." He looked up to the ceiling, and thought he saw his angel smiling at him. 'And thank you too Vin,' he thought, glad to be back.

Scribble: How many times must I tell you that you suck before you quit?

Me: I WILL NEVER QUIT! NEVER!!! Anyway, here is the happy ending I promised! It sounded better in my head though…everything does.

NOTE: The model I used as the angel was based on Vincent Law from Ergo Proxy (I even gave him almost the same name!) and is an angel of death in that anime too.

After this I will attempt a D. Gray Man fic, then another YYH fic and another Gin tama, then maybe Code Geass? I no know yet. But I may return to Saiyuki again someday! So let me know what you think. Worthless flames don't help. Con crit is appreciated, and good reviews are also loved. Long Live the Sanzo-ikkou!

-titangirl161

What2callmyself: Yay another work done! ^_^ If you noticed, Gojyo was all like: "This fic is about the saru? I'm outta here!"

And the saru learns the lesson: Just as he can't live without the sun, the sun can't live without a universe to be in."


End file.
